Bethlehem, PA: The Lehigh Valley Steelhawks are coming off a big home win in which the offense exploded for a franchise record 86 points and garnered two IFL Player of the Week awards (Offense and Special Teams). The Steelhawks will look to continue this offensive success this weekend as they travel to Bloomington to take on the Edge in the 2nd of the two matchups on the year. The team is trying to even the season series.
Steelhawks Face the Edge Saturday in Bloomington.
The Edge (3-1) had a bye week last week, so their last game was when they came to the Valley in the Steelhawks home opener. The Steelhawks defense will again have to be aware of QB Dusty Burk, who threw for 289 yds and 6 tds in the last meeting, and has 852 yds and 16 tds on the season. Defensively they are led by, Jeff Sobol (22 tackles, 4 sacks) and James Temple (25 tackles, 5 int).
The Steelhawks (2-2) continue to be tough defensively, leading the league with the fewest rush yards given up per game (32.3 yds). They are led by DB Marvin Johnson (33 tackles, 3 int). Offensively, IFL veteran QB Bryan Randall (IFL’s Reigning Offensive Player of the Week) helped to spark a scoring spree last week, throwing for 5 tds and running for 2 more. RB Ryan Leafey continues to lead the league in yards per carry (6.2 yds) and is always a threat out of the backfield.
Kickoff is slated for 7:35 p.m. (CST)this Saturday, March 24th. For those who wish to view the game online, please visit http://www.b2livetv.com and look up the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks under the “TEAMS” Section. Fans unable to watch the games live can purchase a season viewing pass.
Monthly Archives: March 2012
Steelhawks Look to Even the Score with Bloomington
Filed under Noise Nation-Dan, Steel Hawks, Steelhawks Head Coach
Video of Mathieson in Japan
I’m going to miss Scott Mathieson in the IronPigs bullpen.
A video from YouTube:
Still throwing heat!
Filed under Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Noise Nation-Dan
Save Money at the Park, Vol. 2: Parking
Parking
Here are some ideas for saving money on the parking. Really, $3 isn’t a lot to ask once you’ve paid $40 to park at an NFL game or $25 at CBP or even, what, $10 or $15 at Dorney. Certainly, though, the IronPigs are able to rake in a nice nightly cash take with the $3 per vehicle, but since I’m not privy to their deal with LSI for the parking lot, much of it could be going towards rent. Still, if you’re coming every night, you might be able to save a few bucks.
- Buy four club level seats. Yes, spend money to save money. It was a helpful way for me to justify to Mrs. Kram why I needed four seats instead of two. Four club-level seats gets you a free preferred (I prefer the lower lot, but whatever) parking pass. I was even able to get parking passes for the playoff games by asking really nicely at the window when I picked up my playoff tickets.
- Park elsewhere and walk. I’ve got a couple friends who do this. They have family or other friends nearby and are able to park and walk. Please be careful, though, one ticket for parking illegally will cancel out much of this savings.
- Show up late. No promises, but they often stop collecting parking around the third inning or so. The downsides are many, though: You miss part of the game (against fan etiquette), you might not find a spot (new, larger capacity this year with the Tiki Bar), and you might have to walk a long way. The carts might not be running at this point.
- Show up early. Again no promises, but if you’re there before the lots “open,” you can often park and no one will ask you for the $3. I’ve been ready to pay it, but I’m not going to chase someone down to give away $3.
- Remember to use your parking vouchers. If you come on a night when it rains, and the game is not played, and you don’t have anything to do, stick around. Because, once the game is officially a rain game, they’ll hand out parking vouchers on the way out. Remember to use it for your next game.
- Carpool. It’s obvious, but also friendly to the environment. If you know someone going to the game that lives near you, consider an arrangement. For me, despite the parking pass, I often had two vehicles at the game last year, which was inefficient. I need to do that much less this year.
- Take the short bus. It’s probably a joke, but Jason DiPro is threatening to purchase a small bus. The IronPigs website says $3 per vehicle—nothing about size. DiPro will paint the bus black and yellow and fly the IronPigs flag as well as the Noise Nation flag. It’ll be great because we’ll get a bunch of folks in with one parking fee. I do have one recommendation for him: make sure the bus is roadworthy. I would hate to see IronPigs fans get stranded on the highway (or in the woods…) on the way to an away game! 😉
Transactions 3/22/2012
From Baseball America’s Prospect Blog
Philadelphia Phillies Released:
RHP Casey Barnes
RHP John Mariotti
RHP Joel Pineiro
RHP Jesus Pirela
LHP Ryan Feierabend
LHP Kasey Kiker
2B Alan Schoenberger
OF Brian Gump
Optioned to Double-A:
RHP J.C. Ramirez
C Sebastian Valle
2B Cesar Hernandez
OF Tyson Gillies
Removed from 40-man: 2B Harold Garcia (outrighted to Double-A)
Some of these moves will influence the IronPig’s Opening Day lineup. Along with injuries to Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and now Michael Martinez… the Pig’s roster will be shaken up.
I will miss Feierabend. He had some bad outtings but he was one of my favorites last season.
An effect of the setting sun, Ryan Feierabend's cleats get lit up slightly before he did. - Photo from Sara Haydt
With all these Pig’s going straight to the Bigs this season the Phillies may also look to fill roster spots with free agent signings. (Translate to read the best of what the other teams cut during spring training.)
We will see.
OinK!
Filed under Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Noise Nation-Dan
IronPigs Fan-tastic – PREVIEW
Why wait until April 9? Join the Noise Nation on the red carpet on April 4 at Coca Cola Park. CLICK IMAGE FOR TIX!
Jimmy T and Dan Kehl bring the Noise!
Guess what? I got a fever! And the only prescription.. is more cowbell!
THE Man
(Insert 'T' Sign Here)
It wouldn't be Fan-tastic without the Noise Nation! (This is the closing shot)
Go Pigs!
DiPro’s Dish
Filed under Coca Cola Park, DiPro's Dish, Lehigh Valley IronPigs
Pro Athletes Do Notice You!
We all have seen that one fan. That fan that’s at every game. The one who makes a spectacle of themselves jumping and cheering. Some wear costumes, wigs or wave signs. Many have traditions of heckling or chatting with players both home and visitors.
Heck, this description fits just about everyone in the Noise Nation!
The Noise Nation's own Jimmy T with the Reading Express' Willie the Clown!
All these great fans add to our fun and enjoyment of the sporting event.
One thing we don’t always count on is the athletes themselves noticing us.
Our old friend Katie Burkart, (formerly of the Philly Force Softball team), sent us a note this morning of a new Twitter account dedicated to those crazy fans out there.
@WFansinStands Weird Fans in the Stands
“You know you’ve been to many sporting events and have seen the weirdest people. Here’s your chance to showcase your WEIRD FANS IN THE STANDS.”
“You know you all have been caught eyeballin’, gawking, starring at that 1 WEIRD FAN IN THE STANDS @ a sporting event that you wish your friends could see too. Now you can… Snap a photo, sign on to TWITTER, and add @wfansinstands NOW… When you upload your photo add #Weird(sport)FansintheStands so the different sports filter to the appropriate section… SNAP SNAP WEIRD.”
I know I’ve run into IronPigs, Steelhawks and Rollergirls out on the town. They normally approach slowly and say something like, “Aren’t you the guy that…?”
Anyways, it looks like a fun topic. I will be following this Twitter feed for sure!
Filed under Noise Nation-Dan
2 Steelhawks Named Players of the Week!
In release made today, the league office of the Indoor Football League announced that Lehigh Valley Steelhawks Quarterback Bryan Randall and Placekicker Chris Hazley were selected as the Week Four VidSwap.com Offensive and Special Teams Players of the Week respectively for their efforts in the team’s 86-53 victory over the rival Reading Express.
Randall and Hazley, both former Virginia Tech Hokies, were standouts for the Steelhawks in the team’s record setting performance.
Randall, starting in his first game for Lehigh Valley since being acquired in a trade with the Allen Wranglers was 10 of 14 passing, for 213 yards and five touchdowns through the air. He was also able to find the endzone for two rushing scores.Steelhawk Quarterback Bryan Randall
Hazley, the former All-American and local product, hit four fields goals, the longest of which was 53 yards, and connected for eight extra points. In all, Hazley accounted for 20 Steelhawks points on the night.Chris Hazley in action for the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks
Filed under Steel Hawks, Steelhawks Head Coach
More Concerts at Coca Cola Park!
The IronPig’s Twitter account @IronPigs announced this morning that a series of concerts will be held at The Coke this summer! Even better, music lovers, there will be pre-game concerts at just about every IronPig home game!
A few of the artists performing are Leechboy, The Ritz Band, Sleight of Hand, Red:Karl Eisenhart, Exit 22, SteelCreek and many many more. For a full listing of artists and respective dates, click here.
This is pretty cool. I’m not a huge music buff, if you are you may want to check out our friend Matt Metal’s Blog.
Just another great benefit of being an IronPig fan!
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The IronPigs also released more photos of the Tiki Terrace over the left field wall.
View from the table area of the new Tiki Terrace at Coca Cola Park
It looks like it will be a fun area this summer.
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The Noise Nation blog was slammed with search requests for a photo of Meredith Marakovits yesterday... here's one of my favorites!
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Only 13 days until the Pig vs R-Phils exhibition game!
Only 14 days until the premiere of the PBS IronPig movie!
Only 15 days until Opening Day at The Coke!
Who’s ready?!
OinK!
Filed under Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Noise Nation-Dan
Two Years. Two Championships. Do the IronPigs Need More Cowbell?
Revisiting this again as I noticed a post on Twitter from @CLBClippers (The Official Twitter of the 2010 & 2011 Triple-A National Champion Baseball Affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.)
“Clippers cowbells are everywhere! #ringyourbell http://twitpic.com/8yyiu7”
As we know, the Clippers defeated our beloved IronPigs in the Governor’s Cup Finals last season before going on to win the Triple A National Championship but they also won the 2010 Triple A National Championship as well!
Back to back, double up, whatever you want to call it… the Clippers have won two championships in consecutive years. In these days of trades, transactions, injuries and that looming control from the parent club above it is quite an achievement to be so successful.
My, not-so-educated guess, would be they have something extra. Something that tips the scales in their favor. Beyond having a highly motivated and talented team. Beyond having an average of 8,704 fans at each home game. They’ve got something extra.
Could it be the cowbells?
They’ve got the “Columbus Clippers Ring Your Bell” song. (I’ll spare your afternoon by not posting it here as it quite catchy and would stick in your head all day)
They’ve got cowbells with a team logo on it.
Photo from the Columbus Clipper's Twitter account
Could it be the cowbell?
What do you think?
Writing this for amusement purposes only. No crusade to enlist legions of cowbellers at the Coke but found it interesting and wanted to share.
OinK!
Filed under Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Noise Nation-Dan
Meredith Marakovits Named Clubhouse Reporter!
Congratulations go out to our good friend Meredith Marakovits for being named Yankee Clubhouse Reporter for the Yes Network!
Meredith with Voice of the IronPig's Matt Provence. Photo source - unknown. If you know please note in comments.
From ESPN:
Meredith Marakovits has been named the YES Network’s New York Yankees clubhouse reporter, reporting on the team within the network’s Yankees game telecasts, pre- and post-game shows, and Yankees Batting Practice Today show. Marakovits will also appear on YES’ special Yankees programming and will contribute to YESNetwork.com, the YES Web site which has won New York Emmy Awards for Best Sports Site two out of the past three years.
Congrats Meredith!
Filed under Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Noise Nation-Dan
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